Film Review - The Wind Rises by Studio Ghibli

Synopsis:

Jiro dreams of flying and designing beautiful airplanes, inspired by the famous Italian aeronautical designer Caproni. Nearsighted from a young age and unable to be a pilot, Jiro joins a major Japanese engineering company in 1927 and becomes one of the world's most innovative and accomplished airplane designers. The film chronicles much of his life, depicting key historical events, including the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, the Great Depression, the tuberculosis epidemic and Japan's plunge into war. Jiro meets and falls in love with Nahoko, and grows and cherishes his friendship with his colleague Honjo.

Check out the film here

Review:

Despite having read a little about the film before actually seeing it firsthand, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Of course, Studio Ghibli’s animations are extraordinary. I’ve seen quite a few of them and absolutely love the beautifully-drawn landscapes and characterisations, but most of all the themes that are caught up throughout each one. Sure, there’s the obvious ones like love and friendship, but there’s the idea of nature against man, the beast of war against humanity. 

The Wind Rises begins with us delving into young Jiro’s dreams to fly. Awake he knows he will never be able to, due to his near-sighted vision (I know how that feels!), but even as a young boy he wants to spend his life within the world of aviation. You get the impression he is very intelligent throughout the film, although this is not pushed too much on the audience. It is just a story of a boy’s dream becoming a reality. Of the history of how it happened and what it meant for him and his country both. 

I don’t know much about the true history of Dr Jiro Horikoshi and I know Studio Ghibli claims this is a mostly fictional version of his biography. The main elements are there of course, but I wonder if certain situations or characters were truly in Jiro’s life. The strikingly-animated earthquake he felt while travelling on a train back to Tokyo and the girl he met who would become his wife in later years, the man he met at a country hotel who seemed to disappear quite quickly and left Jiro with the threat of his country’s government in his wake, and again, even his wife who contracted tuberculosis and died it seems only a short time after they married - these seem true enough but the film ended with too many questions and I’m curious as to how much of it was truth and how much was fiction.

The film itself, while a beautiful animation, was quite leisurely. It did however tend to jump in terms of Jiro’s age. There was a short passage of him as a boy, and the next scene saw him as a young man, travelling back to the University of Tokyo. For me that was a little disjointed. I almost wanted some kind of in between bit to show the time flow.

Overall though I enjoyed the film. It was remiss of anything magical or mythological, but it was still a great animation and a great show of Hayao Miyazaki’s skills. 

I give it four out of five paper aeroplanes.

Review - Twopence to Cross the Mersey by Helen Forrester

Published: 10 March 1981

Format: Paperback

Pages: 224

Read: 1 February 2014






Goodreads Description

When Helen Forrster's father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced from comfortable middle-class life in southern England to utmost poverty in the Depression-ridden North.

Her parents more or less collapsed under the strain, father spending hours in search of non-existent work, or in the dole queue, mother on the verge of a breakdown and striving to find and keep part-time jobs. The running of the household, in slum surroundings and with little food, the care of the younger children, all fell on twelve-year-old Helen.

Unable to attend school, Helen's fear that she was to be trapped forever as drudge and housekeeper caused her to despair at times. But she was determined to have a chance and struggled, despite her parents, to gain an education.

Review

I'd borrowed this book (and it's sequel) from one of my colleagues at work, and I've finally managed to get down and read it.

I don't know much about Liverpool in the 1930s, but both my parents were born there, and my mother spent all her childhood in a similar situation as the characters in this book, although during the 60s rather than the 30s.

So I read this book to get a glimpse, not just of what the Depression was like back then in the 30s, but maybe to see what my mother experienced too, and I have to admit it was more than just eye-opening.

The story begins with Helen, twelve-years-old, thrust into a world of poverty, despair and potential starvation. Her parents have become bankrupt, and seeking work, her father transports his whole family (there's seven children) to the place of his birth - Liverpool.

But of course, the whole family has been used to living comfortably, going to private schooling, not having to worry over food, clothing, or even a roof over their heads. With all that taken away, Helen's parents are panicked and struggling to provide for the family.

The book is written in first person, in Helen's twelve year old eyes, and the childish despair and fears really come to light here. Helen, as the eldest, is more-or-less forced to stay at home and look after her youngest siblings, to babysit and look after the 'house' while her parents look for work, or in her mother's case, get better.

The story made me more than a little furious at this. Here was a girl actually wanting to go to school, to learn, to 'get out' of the situation her parents had put her in, and she was stuck at home instead. It was shocking, and I kept reading to see what would happen next. Would she escape her fate? There's three more books in the series, so I'm thinking yes, but the story is more than just a biography of the author. It's showing how utterly devastating the Depression was back in the 30s, and I can't help but wonder how our modern-day 'Recession' compares.

I really enjoyed this book, reading it in only a few hours. I'm definitely reading the next in the series...

I give this five out of five.



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Book Review - The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston

Published: 11 January 2011

Format: eKindle

Pages: 305

Finished: 30 January 2014

Description (Goodreads)

My name is Elizabeth Anne Hawksmith, and my age is three hundred and eighty-four years. Each new settlement asks for a new journal, and so this Book of Shadows begins…

In the spring of 1628, the Witchfinder of Wessex finds himself a true Witch. As Bess Hawksmith watches her mother swing from the Hanging Tree she knows that only one man can save her from the same fate at the hands of the panicked mob: the Warlock Gideon Masters, and his Book of Shadows. Secluded at his cottage in the woods, Gideon instructs Bess in the Craft, awakening formidable powers she didn’t know she had and making her immortal. She couldn't have foreseen that even now, centuries later, he would be hunting her across time, determined to claim payment for saving her life.

In present-day England, Elizabeth has built a quiet life for herself, tending her garden and selling herbs and oils at the local farmers' market. But her solitude abruptly ends when a teenage girl called Tegan starts hanging around. Against her better judgment, Elizabeth begins teaching Tegan the ways of the Hedge Witch, in the process awakening memories--and demons—long thought forgotten.

Review

I found out about this book through one of my ‘Kindle’ email promotions. Sad, I know, but I read the synopsis and thought, hey, I’ll give it a whirl.

I’m really glad I did. The book starts with Bess Hawksmith on the run. This is a pre-curser to the main story, but sets up the scene with her running through the early morning with the sound of horses and hounds not far behind her, trying to hunt her down. She tells us she can go different ways, but the scene ends with her jumping off a cliff…

A pretty good cliff-hanger, I have to admit. I read on, and the layout of the story changes. Now it is written in the style of a journal, Elizabeth Hawksmith’s journal, and is set in modern-day. She talks of living on her own, in a small cottage, and growing her herbs and plants to use in her spells and ointments (etc.). She also speaks of a girl who appears, Tegan, and how she slowly gets used to her popping up when she’s not entirely wanted. Tegan believes she’s a witch, and after a few weeks it seems, Elizabeth starts to warm to her presence, and even starts to teach her how to grow plants and herbs.

Then Eliabeth tells her the story of Bess. Bess Hawksmith who was born in the 17th Century, who watched her family die, and became Immortal at the hands of Gideon Masters.

I found the story very interesting, and not least because of the way it was written. Because the main character was Immortal, the novel covered different time periods including The Black Death, Jack the Ripper, and World War I, showing what it would have been like to live and work in those eras and during such upheaval in terms of disease, war and death. Throughout, we hear the story in the perspective of Elizabeth - aka Bess - Hawksmith. Her lives, her experiences. During the modern day period, the writing is in the form of a Journal, the times and dates listed in Pagan terms (or what I can determine to be as such) - Imbolc, new moon etc., whereas the past is written in third person, but still in Elizabeth’s perspective.

Then there is Gideon Masters, the Warlock who made Bess Immortal in the first place, is an obvious villain in this story. Psychotic, egotistic, more than a little sadistic (considering his Jack the Ripper days), and just plain crazy bad-guy.

The only thing I was a little murky about was Elizabeth Hawksmith’s modern-day character. I actually preferred Bess to Elizabeth, funny enough. She felt stronger, even though she was obviously young and naive, and she fought back despite the dangers even then. But when she became Immortal, even with all that power she gained, she holed it all up and ran instead.

Despite the murkiness though, I can understand the reasoning behind this. Gideon’s character was also just as powerful, but I still expected more of a fight throughout, rather than just the big fight scene at the end.

Overall, I give this a three out of five.

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Book Review - The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa (Book Three)

Published: 2011 (Harlequin Teen)

Format: eBook (Kindle)

Pages: 358

Read: 11 January 2014






Description (Goodreads)

My name is Meghan Chase.

I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who's sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I'm not sure anyone can survive it.

This time, there will be no turning back.

Review

Once again I'm drawn into the story of Meghan Chase, Ash, and Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) and I am loath to put it down for too long.

The third book in Kagawa's series, it starts with Meghan and Ash now exiled from the 'NeverNever' (Fairy realms) because of their love. Unsure what to do now that  they're both in the mortal realms (considering Meghan can't really go back home with a former Winter Court prince in tow), Meghan determines to get her memories back of her father, which were taken in the first book, and rescue her father from Leanansidhe.

In order to do that, she needs to go back to New Orleans, to the Oracle who took those memories from her in the first place, and along the way meets Glitch and his host of rebel Iron Fey, eager to kidnap her and keep her safe from the false Iron King who has set his sights on conquering the NeverNever as well as on killing her. She narrowingly escapes of course, with the help of Ash and Puck, who appears again to help her out, but Meghan in the last two books has changed. She's been up against a lot of crazy stuff, and like all protagonists, she wants a way to defend herself. So starts her training with her magic, and a little sword-action in there too!

I quite liked this series. It's got a decent enough pace and because Julie Kagawa tends to write in an easy-going manner with enough action to keep you interested, the third book didn't disappoint in that respect. I've read other YA books with more character depth, and a little more tense action, but overall I enjoyed The Iron Queen. There's a lot of series that drift out after the first book, but I'm interested to see how this series progresses, especially as the next book is written in Ash's point of view.

I think I'll give three out of five of Puck's grizzly bear tennis balls.

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Book Review - The Iron King and the Iron Daughter (Book One and Two) by Julie Kagawa

As I've just finished Book Three, The Iron Queen, I wanted to write reviews for the first two books as well. So here they are.

Book One - The Iron King

Published: 2010 (Harlequin Teen)

Format: eBook (Kindle)

Pages: 363

Read: 24 December 2013





Description: (Goodreads)

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Review:

The first adventure of Meghan Chase... well, I'd been recommended this book on Goodreads so I thought I'd check it out. Especially when I noticed Amazon Kindle were offering the first three books at £0.99 each. It was Christmas, and I was in desperate need of an easy-going book to read.

The first book starts of relatively normal. Meghan is a normal 16-year-old, dealing with normal problems. That is, until her little brother is snatched from their house and taken into a place called the NeverNever.
Suddenly Meghan is dumped with the knowledge that things like fairies, goblins, trolls and even dragons do exist, and she's the Summer King's daughter. Half-mortal, Half-fey, she's been protected for from this knowledge by Puck (Robin Goodfellow), aka her best friend.
But with her brother now swapped for a Changeling, and the knowledge all out there in the open, Meghan demands that her friend take her into the NeverNever to rescue her brother.

So he takes her, and so begins the adventures of Meghan Chase, daughter of the Summer King. Here in the NeverNever she meets Grimalkin, a Cait Sith who reminds me a little of the Cheshire cat in Alice and Wonderland, and Ash, prince of the Winter Court.

As an enemy of the Summer Court, Ash is the last person Meghan should fall in love with, but she does, because where would you be in a book without a little forbidden romance?

I enjoyed this book (so much so I bought the following two books), and on the whole I give it 3.5 out of 5 disappearing Cait Sith.

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Book Two - The Iron Daughter

Published: 2010 (Harlequin Teen)

Format: eBook (Kindle)

Pages: 359

Read: 30 December 2013

Description (Goodreads)

Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron fey—ironbound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her.

Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's stuck in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

Review:

On to the second adventure of Meghan Chase...

At the end of Book One Meghan has rescued her brother, killed the Iron King, and gained the knowledge that she is the daughter of Oberon, King of the Summer Court. However, she is now stuck in a contract with Ash, son of Queen Mab of the Winter Court, and the minute she brings her brother back home, Ash arrives to collect - she has to go with him to the Winter Court.

If that wasn't bad enough, she's in love with Ash, and he her. A love that literally will tear everything apart. The minute she walks into Winter Court territory, Ash has to ignore her, to give up any measure of feelings for her, because in the Winter Court, emotion is weakness, and love between two Courts is forbidden.

Meghan is stuck trying to survive in the harsh Court, until an Iron Knight arrives and kills Sage, Ash's brother and steals the staff of the Seasons (currently the staff of Winter). Mab blames Oberon, despite Meghan trying to tell them the truth, and an all-out war between Winter and Summer begins.

Desperate to stop the war, Meghan escapes to track down the Staff, with the help of Ash and Puck, and Grimalkin of course, but also with the unlikely help of Iron Horse as well (an Iron version of a Water Horse I'm sure).

I'd say the second book was mostly as enjoyable as the first - in the sense that the writing was easy-to-read, there was just enough action and suspense to keep you hooked. The endings are generally expected however. You don't have any illusions of where the book(s) are going to go - in a roundabout way, anyway.

I'd give this 3 out of 5 Iron Horses.

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